The Lincoln Blackwood was conceived as a luxury pickup truck to shake off Lincoln's stodgy image, but it was delivered at the wrong time. [1] It was designed in the late 1990s for conspicuous wealth but came out after the dot-com bubble burst. [2] The Blackwood was over-the-top in style but lacked substance with poor gas mileage, high price, and an unusable truck bed. [3] Production was cancelled after just one year due to the vehicle's severe flaws in design, value, and poor market timing.

1. 9/30/2011
The Lincoln Blackwood
“Probably the most ridiculous thing
Lincoln has ever done.”
“Luxury Utility Vehicle”
• With only one new vehicle in 26 years, Lincoln wanted to
shake off the perception that it was “old school”, “boring”
and “stuck in the 60s”.
• Blackwood made a dramatic statement; a specialty
vehicle promoted almost entirely through direct
marketing.
– Limited edition
– Narrow audience
There were just 3 problems...
Wrong vehicle
Wrong concept
Wrong time
• Blackwood was a triumph of over-the-top style vs. substance.
• Conceived of in the late 1990s, when investors sought out
conspicuous displays their new-found stock market wealth.
• Delivered after the dot.com bubble burst – 1 month after 9/11.
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2. 9/30/2011
Conceived
Delivered
Product challenges
• Genuinely expensive: $53,000
• A shockingly eco-unfriendly 13 mpg (17 highway)
• One color choice: black
• No 4 wheel-drive
• Unusable truck bed
• “Gorgeous, in the way that Las Vegas honeymoon suites
and Elvis's jumpsuits are gorgeous”
“Viva Las Vegas”:
A Pickup for Elvis”
– The New York Times
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3. 9/30/2011
“So perverted by style and luxury that it cannot even
carry the occasional lawnmower or sheet of plywood.”
“You have to have money to burn to
buy this. This is just an expensive toy.”
Our positioning:
A toy for rich boys
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4. 9/30/2011
Prospect hand-out
Prospect hand-out
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5. 9/30/2011
Prospect hand-out
Blackwood Debut
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6. 9/30/2011
Blackwood Microsite
Blackwood Microsite
Blackwood Microsite
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7. 9/30/2011
Blackwood Microsite
Press not so great? Let’s create our own!
How to find well-healed prospects?
Sponsor the U.S. Open
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8. 9/30/2011
Where could we find the splurging super rich?
$8,000 crystal Mr. Potato Head $10 million Zeppelin
50 Neiman-Marcus edition Blackwoods
were offered at $58,000 each.
They sold out in 8 hours.
But for the rest of our prospects, Blackwood’s
shortcomings were a real hurdle.
Blasé brand
Poor price-value
Disco design
Lacks basic features
The press laughing at us
Really, what else could go wrong?
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9. 9/30/2011
January 3, 2001
Blackwood Reports
Production Delay
Claycomo, MO Originally expected to be on sale by
the fall of 2000, then delayed until the first quarter
of 2001, it now appears Blackwood customers may
not take delivery until the second quarter of 2001.
“Here At Last” mailer
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10. 9/30/2011
Dealer training video
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11. 9/30/2011
Could direct marketing save a vehicle
so severely flawed in design, value,
functionality, and timing as Blackwood?
No. Production was cancelled
after just one year.
What did we accomplish?
• Attracted 59,300 prospects
• Sold 3,356 vehicles at dealerships
– Brought in $17,786,000 in revenue
• Sold 50 Neiman-Marcus units in 8 hours
– $2.9 million in sales from 1 product running 1 time in 1 catalog!
• Helped ensure the Lincoln brand will never again be
perceived of as “boring”
Many thanks to Steve Luftman, Blackwood Art Director,
and the rest of the Y&R team
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